Another week, another batch of game information "flying" out in advance of magazine street dates, and people quickly "getting" said information thanks to the internet. Hence the term "flying get."

As always, this column contains information reported by the lucky folks who manage to get Famitsu and the likes in advance of their Thursday or Friday street dates. I base the actual text you see here off the summaries posted at Game Jouhou.

I haven't seen the "participating" magazines for myself, so consider all of this unverified until you read it elsewhere on the site.

The story will be updated throughout the day as new info comes in, so be sure and check back!

Yoichi Wada for some completely inexplicable reason failed to share his opinion on Heavy Rain during Square Enix's earnings briefing last week. Dengeki came to the rescue through an interview this week in which the CEO reveals that he likes Heavy Rain so much that he wishes more games like it were made.

Also in the interview, Wada spoke about Square Enix's recently started foreign games label, Extreme Edge. He said Square Enix will kill off this label once overseas games get the same respect as domestic games.

Wada also addressed the hardcore crowd, saying that Square Enix should be a company for people who love games.

Final Fantasy XIV Update (added 14:05)

Famitsu has an interview with team Final Fantasy XIV this week. Here's a summary of the bullet points that were listed at Game Jouhou:

[li]The Beta version will see some system changes that will make it so that you can more easily string together your attacks.[/li]

[li]The alpha test had bad tempo with insufficient explanations. They've made some revisions to the beta, resulting in a completely different system.[/li]

[li]It will be easier to save up Gil.[/li]

[li]You remember that amazing comparison shot showing how much better the beta looks compared to the alpha? It seems that the beta uses a different technique for its shadows. The alpha version used something called "Project Shadows" while the beta version uses "Depth Buffer Shadows."[/li]

[li]The city of Limsa Lominsa will have two levels.[/li]

[li]There will be a robust log filter in place. This is something that wasn't finished in time for the alpha.[/li]

[li]They'll soon be adding alpha testers as part of the new "alpha 2" phase. They've already selected the participants via drawing![/li]

[li]As you play the game, you'll be able to freely change the god that you select during character making.[/li]

[li]Vehicles for FFXIV include Chocobo, horse driven carriage, boat, and air ship.[/li]

[li]You'll be able to select different colors for your equipment.[/li]

[/ul]

Alpha (left) vs Beta (right).

Vanquish Details Coming Next Week (added 13:47)

Looks like new Vanquish details are coming soon. Famitsu promises an update on the Shinji Mikami action title for next week's issue.

It also seems that the issue will have some new info on Monster Hunter Portable 3rd.

Other columns include an E3 forecast feature, a pre-release look at Xenoblade, a strategy guide for Super Mario Galaxy 2, and the latest in the magazine's periodic guides to buying HD TVs.

Sega Titles in Super Dimensional Game Neptune (added 13:47)

Sega is not just distributor for Compile Hearts' Super Dimensional Game Neptune. It's also lending some of its franchises to the game. Elements from Golden Axe, Alex Kidd, Ashura, Fantasy Zone, Altered Beast, Shinobi, Penguin Land and Space Harrier will appear in the game.

I'm not sure how these Sega properties will be represented, but here's how previously announced crossovers with Nippon Ichi, Gust and other companies look:

Acquire's Free Gaming Experiment

Acquire has somewhat of an experimental game on the way for PSP. Not interested in experimenting? Well you might as well, as the cost of admission is zero!

Class of Heroes developer Zero Dive is readying the all new Bakumatsu Revolution, a downloadable PSP title that's priced to move at zero yen! That's right, you'll have to pay exactly nothing to download and play the game.

And there seems to be quite a bit of content here. This "Rogue-like RPG" is set in the Bakumatsu Era. You take on a variety of tasks and quests that are set in a randomly generated dungeon.

You and up to four players can team up for cooperative play. Each player creates his very own character, selecting from fencer, monk and knight jobs.

You can expect over 10 hours for the main part of the game, along with lots of things to hold your attention afterwards.

So what's the catch? Game Jouhou's description doesn't say, but I'm going to presume you'll be paying for download content. Check back later for details if Famitsu provided them.

Bakumatsu Revolution arrives on June 25.

Another Century's Episode R's New Gameplay Systems

It already has a release date, but it seems Another Century's Episode R still has a few secrets left to be unveiled. Famitsu detailed two of these systems this week:

Tension Attack

A tension gauge builds up with time and as you pound away at your foes. By depleting this gauge, you can unleash powerful attacks on your foes.

Chase Mode

When in this mode, your mech's movement becomes semi-auto and you can freely control the camera. This mode of movement is used only in particular stages. From what I can see, you don't get to freely switch to chase mode.